Yesterday – Wednesday – was Hump Day. No, I’m not talking about bunnies; I’m talking about overcoming the “hump” of the work week! Now that you’ve successfully overcome a tough work day, I decided to let today’s challenge be a more relaxed reading suggestion.

A lot of us say we have personal blogs. But how personal do we really get when blogging? Do our personal blogs really reflect our personal insights, or have they been overrun by event reports, giveaways, and other less-personal, more-business stuff?

Be honest. Take one look at your personal blog, if you have one. If not, go over to your favorite personal blog and find out how “personal” it truly is. After that, you’re all set for today’s Smart Blogger Challenge!

Spoiler: I also have an announcement to make – and it involves about PhP10,000 worth of prizes!

Personal Blogging: A Forgotten Art

Maybe I’m being too melancholic here, but sometimes, I feel like personal blogging is a forgotten craft! More likely than not, we have allowed too much impersonal stuff into our personal blogs.

I miss reading personal stories from talented bloggers who make their day-to-day lives sound entertaining and fun to read. There’s nothing mundane about our mundane lives! Each breath we take is a tribute to so many positive things, most of which are blog-worthy.

Smart Blogger Challenge: Reading Task No. 12

That’s why I thought it might be a good idea to get more personal with today’s reading task. Sit back, relax, and read this as leisurely as you can.

I hope that one way or another, today’s read inspires you to start blogging about something personal that happened to you. It’s a great way to connect with your readers, showing them a side of you that you might have neglected in your blogging life.

Something exciting’s up ahead! Are you ready?

And as promised, I have an announcement to make. I will be giving away a few prizes to all of you, given how awesome you’ve all been! The prizes amount to about PhP10,000 and I’m thinking of dividing the prizes into three.

That’s right: There will be three winners for this 21-Day Smart Blogger Challenge! All you need to qualify is to be part of this challenge. No need to blog about it or share it on your social networks (although that would be great, of course).

To join the contest, I will be asking you to email me on a specific day using the email address you used to join the 21-Day Smart Blogger Challenge.Only those who joined on or before February 16, 2015 are entitled to win any of the three prizes at stake.

I’ve long stopped holding giveaways, but this might be fun as the prizes are considerably bigger than my usual ones. However, I want this giveaway to be more personal, in the spirit of personal blogging.

With nothing much you need to do except send me an email on the day I ask you to – and there’s no telling when that will be – the giveaway should be easy, exciting, and personal! Oh, I can’t wait!

Wanna be one of the three winners of up to PhP10,000 worth of prizes?

One of these days before the 21-Day Smart Blogger Challenge is over, I will ask you to send me an email using the email address you registered with for this challenge. You can’t use alternative emails – only the one you used to register. I can’t let anyone game the system, if you know what I mean.

I won’t say when it starts and I won’t say what should be in your email until that day comes. I will then choose three winners and announce them after the Smart Blogger Challenge.

Good luck, everyone! Make sure you read your daily tasks or you might miss out on this contest! I hope this gives you extra motivation to pommel through the Smart Blogger Challenge.

Be part of the 21-Day Smart Blogger Challenge right now! Scroll down and find the email notifications box. Enter your email address and check your inbox for the verification email. That’s it! You will start receiving daily reading tasks the next day – and you’ll be eligible for the giveaway up ahead!

IF SOMEONE WILL BENEFIT, SHARE IT!

About the bloggerStef dela Cruz is a doctor and writer. She received the 2013 Award for Health Media from the Department of Health. She maintains a health column in Health.Care Magazine and a cat welfare column in The Manila Bulletin's Animal Scene. Add her Google profile to your circles.

0
comments:

Get Email Updates! (You don't wanna miss out, yes?)

Doctors don't just wear white coats - they also wear many hats! I now don the hat of a humble writer. I hope that by sharing anecdotes about doctors and stories about wellness, I can give you a peek behind the curtain and work with you to keep every Juan and Maria healthy.

Accolades + Affiliations

Follow Stef:

When this blog reached its second month, it became a PageRank 2 website! Thanks to all of you who continue to read, like, and share these articles - you are keeping others healthy and, ultimately, saving lives.

“Sayang naman ang pinag-aralan mo (what a waste your education was).”

That’s what people say when they find out that Stef dela Cruz is a doctor who traded her stethoscope for the humble pen. Her answer to them is this blog, as it is both a means and an end: It explains her decision to swap professions while it is also the very product of her calling to write.

A nurse and doctor who graduated with Latin honors in both degrees at the University of Santo Tomas, she is now a columnist for two print magazines and a website. She also contributes to a national newspaper.

Through her blog, she dreams of healing and saving lives, one article at a time. Join her in her mission – all you have to do is read and share.